Sexual Harassment on the Rise, Women Say

In a world that is full of places where women can’t walk the streets alone, China appears to be relatively safe.

Yet Chinese women are facing a rise in sexual harassment, according to a survey from China-based research firm Canton Public Opinion Research Center.

Bloomberg News

China is often seen as a relatively safe place for women, but a new report suggests incidents of sexual harassment are on the rise.

Of the 1,500 women above the age of 16 surveyed, 31% reported a rise in sexual harassment incidents over the past three years, while 48% of those between the ages of 16 and 25 said they have faced increased incidents, the survey, conducted by phone with women in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, said.

Compared with countries such as India, where “aggressive sexual harassment is a fixture of daily life,” as reported today in The Wall Street Journal, China has appeared comparatively safe for females. Sexual harassment in Japan has become such a problem that subways now offer female-only cars.

Yet women have long faced many obstacles in Chinese society, including cases of domestic violence and acts of subjugation, such as foot-binding.

The Canton survey reported that 35% of victims suffered sexual harassment in verbal form, in person, or through text messages or phone calls. The survey did not provide reasons for the rates of increase.

Research from the University of Chicago in 2006 suggests that as China’s economy has undergone a massive transformation in the last two decades, so has its society, including its views of sex and of women.

With the rise of China’s urbanization, Chinese women are increasingly in places—schools, work and public transportation—where there is more opportunity for them to be exposed to sexual harassment, the University of Chicago study said. Women in service jobs and those perceived by men as being more attractive than others also faced higher rates of harassment incidents, the study said.

Laws against sexual harassment of women exist in China, having been introduced in 2005 and fully implemented in 2007. Still, despite implementation, which enables women to take perpetrators to court, the burden of proof is on the victim.

Some Chinese citizens are calling for stricter adherence to its sexual-harassment laws, according to state-run media the Global Times. The report says that some believe the government could do more to enforce punishment for violators.

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